About Biodiesel
Biodiesel has been extensively studied by many universities including Vanderbilt. It has many advantages over regular diesel and few shortcomings. It burns cleaner, increases engine life, reduces engine noise, cleans the fuel system, eliminates the "diesel smell," is safer to handle and transport, and transforms a waste product into a useful substance.
Biodiesel has not become a viable alternative to petroleum-based diesel on a large scale because the price of vegetable oil has not yet made widespread distribution economically beneficial. However, small scale production and testing using waste vegetable oil has been happening for years. While far from a "silver bullet", we believe that Biodiesel is an important investment because, in addition to all the aforementioned benefits, it diversifies our nation's energy portfolio increasing our energy security.
Frequently Asked Questions
Links to Further Resources
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biodiesel and how is it made?
Are any engine modifications necessary to use biodiesel?
What about fuel performance?
How do the emissions compare?
What is biodiesel and how is it made? ...back to top
Biodiesel is an alternative fuel created by the "transesterification" of vegetable oil, a chemical process which exchanges the alcohol group of an ester compound with another alcohol.
Pure vegetable oil or filtered waste vegetable oil is combined with methanol and a lye catalyst (we use potassium hydroxide) in specific proportions. Upon heating, a chemical reaction occurs producing biodiesel and glycerol (also known as glycerin, which is a great soap and de-greaser!)
Are any engine modifications necessary to use biodiesel? ...back to top
One of the major advantages of biodiesel is that it can be used directly in any diesel engine or can be blended with petroleum-based diesel in any proportions. Biodiesel can eat through some older types of rubber so if your car was made prior to 1993, the rubber fuel lines will probably have to be replaced. Biodiesel is a great lubricant for your fuel injection system and blending it with regular diesel can actually improve the life of your engine!
What about fuel performance? ...back to top
Many alternative fuels have difficulty gaining public acceptance because their fuel performance is less than their petroleum derived counterparts, however petroleum diesel's energy content can vary as much as 15% from one supplier to another. In its pure form, B100's energy content is typically 5%-10% lower than petroleum diesel but when blended at B20 levels, there is less than a 2% change in fuel energy content, with no noticeable changes in mileage or economy to the user.
How do the emissions compare? ...back to top
Links to Further Resources
Collaborative Biodiesel Tutorial:
http://www.biodieselcommunity.org/
How Stuff Works:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/biodiesel.htm
Journey to Forever:
http://www.journeytoforever.org/biodiesel.html
National Biodiesel Board:
http://www.biodiesel.org/resources/fuelfactsheets/default.shtm
